Game



March 25, 1930. 'E; BREWER 7 1,751,466

GAME

Filed March 25, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 25, 1930. E. BREWER GAME Filed March 25,

wax-141141 lmven tar EDWARD BREW/:1? Z.

Attomg.

Patented Mar. 25, 1930 EDWARD BREWER, OF TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA GAME Application filed March 25, 1929, Serial No. 349,654, and in Canada May 23, 1928.

The invention relates to improvements in games as described in the present specification and shown in the accompanying drawings which form part of the same.

The invention appertains to a novel and interesting game primarily intended for use at fair grounds, amusement parks, seasideresorts and the like, although it is susceptible of indoor use in parlors and homes.

The invention has for its object the provision of a game of skill which simulates the well-known game of baseball and comprises a field containing the conventional diamond on which the usual players are stationed, the batter being movable along the base lines of the diamond. To one side of the field'is a yieldable bat at which a ball is thrown and upon being struck actuates mechanism causing the batter to make one or more bases dependent upon the degree of force with which the bat is struck. As customary to games of this nature, prizes are awarded in accordance with the score made, reckoned either in number of bases or runs scored, or any other manner of reckoning desired or made applicable to this game.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the invention showing the batter at the home base. Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken through Figure 1' and showing means for resetting the game after a play. Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional detail of the field and mechanism situated therebelow for actuating the batter. Figure l is a detail of an arm which is attached to the batter. Figure 5 is a detail of the batter and mechanism for mounting him in the arm shown in Figure 4.

In the drawings, the reference numeral 10 designates a platform from which rises a bat 11 which is yieldably mounted by means of a pivotal connection 12and sustained in a normal vertical position by a counterweight 13 located below the pivot.

At the rear of the bat is a back-stop 14 which may be of any desirable construction. The platform 10 is preferably inclined to one side in order that the balls thrown at the bat will gravitate to a retaining device not shown in the drawings since it does not form a part diamond is held in place by a bracket 20' rigidly attached to its underside, which bracket is secured to a standard 21 borne by asupporting structure 22. 1,

The standard 21 is provided with avertical shaft or axle 23 on which is placed pulley or sheave 24 for horizontal rotation. 4 This sheave or pulley has a slip belt 25 thereupon and connecting to a further pulley 26fcarried:

by a vertical shaft 27. This vertical shaft is geared to an electrical motor 28, whichmotor is kept in continuous operation while the game is being played.

The pulley 24 carries a radial tending upwardly therefrom and slottedas at 30 for substantially its entire 1 ng1;;- 31 is'a block supported on the upper f ace-of this arm and is provided with spaced fingersi82 projecting downwardly through the islet thereln. 5 A); This block is slidable lengthwise of the and radially with respect to the pL1 l 'l ey ;2t,; The batter 18 is rigidly affixedt'o a'vertical rod 33 that passes downwardly through the it channel 19 and loosely through the iblockfil. The lower end of the rod is weighted-asatBgt in order to maintain the batter i r 1 an upright position and to prevent his wobb ling A co-llar 35 is rigidly attached to the rod aiid engaged with the upper face of the block order to take the weight and sustain the-batter. A guide 35" keeps the batter looking forwardly.

It will be seen that by this upon the pulley rotating, the arm 12 9-,w ill carry the player around the baselines jofthe diamond, the block 31 permit-ting offthenecessary radial movement to conformto the non-circular shape of the diamond, .1 1;.

the pulley the belt functions to turn it until Beneath the platform 10 is a comparatively long bar 36 extending from the bat 11 to a point beneath the pulley 24. This bar is slid ably mounted in members 37, 38 and 39. "On the bar is provided a series of teeth 40 in the form of a rack, which teeth are engageable by a spring pressed pawl 41 that is pivoted intermediate of its length in a bracket 42. At one end of the teeth is a collar 43 fastened about the bar 36 and so positioned that it will abut the pawl 41 when the rear of the bar 36 is abutting the bat 11. The tension spring 44 is connected at one end to the member 37 and at the other end to the bar 36 and functions to normally retain the bar in abutting engagement with the bat and return it to such position when the pawl is released from the tooth 40. The frontal end of the bar is provided with spaced notches 45 forming projections 46 corresponding in spaced relation to the teeth 40.

Depending from the underside of the pulley 24 are pins 47, four in number, one for each base of the diamond including the home base or plate. One of these pins is so positioned that it normally engages the first projection provided by the notches 45 and retains the batter at the home plate until such time as the bar is shifted by the yielding of the bat as hereinbefore described. When the motor is in operation the belt 25 normally slips around the pulley 24 but upon release is stopped again by one of the pins 47.

A resetting device is shown in connection with the pulley 41 which consists of a flexible element 48 connected at one end to said pulley and then trained around one or more pulleys 49 to a hand lever 50.

In playing the game the motor is continuously operated as previously described, the belt 25'slipping around the pulley 24. Upon a player throwing a ball at the bat and striking it the impact is transmitted to the bar 36 which moves it lengthwise against the spring pressure. Assuming that the force of the im pact is merely suflicient to move it until the first tooth of the teeth 40 is engaged by the pawl 41, the bar is retained in this position thereby. The shifting of the bar this distance moves the first notch of the notches 45 into register with the home-plate pin and thus frees it from engagement with the projection. The pulley 24 being free is rotated by the belt 25 until the succeeding pin strikes against the second projection, thus arresting the pulley so that the player is held at the first base making a one base hit. It will be evident that the securing of a larger number of bases or a home-run will be similarly mechanically effected by the greater impact upon the bat shifting the bar to one of the farther notches.

In games of skill of this nature the player has a number of throws in order to complete his play, and, therefore, should the player not score a home-run in a single throw, upon his succeeding throw striking the bat, the bat ter will continue, should there be sufiicient impact, upon his course along the diamond. Since in such an event the action of the mechanism will be the same as heretofore described no additional description of this fur ther movement is deemed necessary.

The operator of the game may reset it at any time desired by shifting the hand lever 50, thereby pulling upon the flexible element 48 and thus raising the pawl from the engaged tooth of the rack 40 so as to allow the spring 44 to return the bar into abutting engagement with the bat 11.

What I claim is:

1. In a game of the class described, a field containing a baseball diamond, a batter disposed thereon, a bat yieldably mounted apart from the diamond, a rotatable arm mounted medially of the diamond, said arm being slotted lengthwise, a block slidably mount ed in the slot thereof, a vertical rod rising from said block and attached to the aforesaid batter, means for rotating said arm, and control means associated therewith whereby said arm is released and arrested at points corresponding to the difierent bases, said control means being actuated by the yielding of the aforesaid bat.

2. In a game of the class described, a field containing a baseball diamond which is isolated from the adjacent portion of the field by a peripheral channel, means supporting the diamond from its under-face, a batter, an arm rotatably mounted beneath the diamond for movement in a horizontal plane, a block slidably mounted upon the arm, a rod vertically passing through said block, the upper end thereof passing through the channel aforesaid and being rigidly attached to the batter, the lower end of said rod being weighted below the block, guide means for keeping the batter facing the direction in which he travels, means for rotating the aforesaid arm, control means associated therewith whereby said arm is released and arrested at points corresponding to the different bases, and a bat yieldably mounted apart from the diamond for actuating said control means.

3. In a game of the class described, a field containing a baseball diamond, a batter, a rotatable arm mounted medially of the diamond, means associating the batter with the arm whereby the batter is moved around the bases by the rotation of the arm, a pin-carrying unit rotatable with said arm, pins projecting therefrom, one for each base of the diamond, power means constantly urging the pin-carrying unit to rotate, a bat yieldably mounted apart from the diamond, and mechanism normally engaging one of the pins to normally prevent rotation, said mechanism being adapted to be actuated by the yielding of the bat to release the engaged pin through one of its notches and to engage another pin depending on the extent of yielding of the bat upon being struck by the ball.

4:. In a game of the class described, a field containing a baseball diamond, a batter, a rotatable arm mounted medially of the diamond, means associating the batter with the arm whereby the batter is moved around the bases by the rotation of the arm, a pin-carrying unit rotatable with said arm, pins projecting therefrom, one for each base of the diamond, power means constantly urging the pin-carrying unit to rotate, a bat yieldably mounted apart from the diamond, and a horizontal bar slidably mounted, one end of said bar being in abutting engagement with said bat and the other end thereof being provided with notches forming projections, one of which normally engages a pin of the pincarrying unit.

5. In a game of the class described, a field containing a baseball diamond, a batter, a rotatable arm mounted medially of the dia- V mond, means associating the batter with the arm whereby the batter is moved around the bases by the rotation of the arm, a pin-carrying unit rotatable with said arm, pins projecting therefrom, one for each base of the diamond, power means constantly urging the pin-carrying unit to rotate, a bat yieldably mounted apart from the diamond, a horizontal bar slidably mounted, a spring holding one end of said bar in abutting engagement with said bat, a series of notches and projections provided in the other end of said bar for controlling the pin-carrying unit upon being moved lengthwise by the yielding of the bat, pawl mechanism preventing retraction of the bar, and hand operated mechanism for releasing the bar to reset it.

Signed at Toronto, Canada, this 2nd day of March, 1929.

EDWARD BREWER. 

